Javelin MRP: Production Planning In A Complex Environment We trust you found our tongue in cheek comparison to the EU Referendum and Production Planning entertaining. This document is designed to deliver a top level overview of the functional competency of Javelin MRP as a multi-dimensional production planning and scheduling solution. We will cover: Resources such as Factory Capacity, Machine and Labour Capacity, Shift Patterns, Skill level differentials such as Inspectors, Setters, the scheduling and control of tooling and calibrated instrumentation, Work in Progress oversight and of course Material and Component control plus other key functions such as First Article Inspection (FAIRS or PPAP), Engineering Change and Issue Control. Javelin MRP excels in controlling such complex dynamic production plans in both make to order and make to stock environments. Our sample customer list towards the end of this guide supports this claim. They cover a wide range of industrial sectors such as Aerospace, Precision Engineering, Motorsport, ONG, Fabrications, Sub Contractors, Plastics, Electronics and Medical. Production Planning: Overview Javelin MRP, whilst primarily designed for the SME businesses, delivers a surprisingly rich range of functionality much of which is not found in many global ERP brands. Javelin considers multiple resource dimensions or resource restraints and rules concurrently when making a suggested production plan. Working from the top down: Factory capacity Work centre capacity Machines within a work centre Labour or operator capacity Required job/operation skills Operator skills Operator shift patterns Operators within a department Tooling/inspection availability Job/operation manning levels Planning/scheduling rules Planning methodology
Javelin MRP and your Team Javelin MRP and your Plant It does not matter whether you are a precision CNC machine shop, sheet metal fabricator, contract electronics or plastic injection moulding. Effective utilisation of your machines and your labour based assembly or finishing operations is paramount when competing in todays automated manufacturing environment. Production Planning in Javelin MRP really starts with your operators, staff, and shop floor personnel. Just as in real life the success of your business depends upon the skills, availability and efficiency of your production team and Javelin understands this. Your people can be allocated certain skills within Javelin, allocated to a work pattern such as day or night shifts, or flexi shifts to reflect the way you work. We acknowledge that some people are more productive than others and can apply an efficiency factor against individuals. With modern automated production lines people may be able to run several jobs concurrently, individual operations may not need 100% manning, others will. Production planning within Javelin MRP assesses the whole range of relevant dimensions within your team when suggesting the plan: How much operator time? Which specific skills? Javelin MRP allows you to construct a real world resource map reflecting the way your business operates. Work centres can be machine based, labour based or mixed including both labour and machine capacity. Work centres and labour can be modelled into shift patterns with jobs flowing across shifts or indeed restrained into a primary shift. In similar vein work centres can be grouped as cells and /or department to reflect many production models. You can create capacity restraints for individual work centres; treat them as infinite capacity or as bottlenecks. The design flexibility gives you control of your factory and the people on the shop floor. In many automated environments one operator may be handling several jobs concurrently, or a setter is 100% dedicated to the operation. Javelin can reflect real world requirements including crew manning. As well as a graphical planning board with drag and drop capabilities, Javelin also provides a Factory View: what is working, what is idle. Insight at your fingertips! When are they working? Which operations can they perform?
Javelin MRP: Matters of Quality We all acknowledge that demonstrable quality standards and industry specific accreditations play an important part in both winning and retaining customer business. Yet other than product or material traceability, few organisations fully utilise their MRP/ERP solution to support. Perhaps the functionality does not exist. Yet quality control and the availability of inspectors, instrumentation, and tooling is all part of the production planning mix. If you cannot plan an inspector and a gauge to be available for first off inspection then the whole plan can grind to a halt. If you are working on the wrong issue level then production could be wasted. Javelin brings together supporting functionality within the production plan to enhance your quality processes. Managed Tooling & Instrumentation Tooling can be either used as part of production or as inspection instrumentation. Whichever way Javelin can tie tooling to operations, the time required and make them part of the scheduling plan acting as a restrained resource. In similar manner you may track tooling both on and off jobs so enhancing the quality audit trail. Parameters can be applied for usage and recalibration so ensuring that you are using validated instruments. Inspection You may have an inspection team, or operators qualified as inspectors. You can decide who is allowed to perform an inspection and sign off. Subsequent operations can be inhibited until inspection is registered. You can define inspection sample profiles such as first of last off, quantity based or % based samples. Issue and Change Control You may wish simply to record product issue levels, change dates and retain history based upon this information only. At the other end you may have formal engineering change notes with structured change, hold and authorised release processes in place. This can include materials or components, drawing issues and the manufacturing method (route) itself as in the case of certified methods of manufacture. If you are involved in either FAIRS reporting or PPAP this functionality is a must have. Whichever method of change control you require Javelin MRP will take into account the effective change dates for production planning purposes. Material Traceability Batch and serial tracking can generally be taken as standard functionality in most manufacturing software applications. However materials are becoming more complex and subject to controlled environments. Shelf life control and degradation once removed from controlled stores is becoming more prevalent as industry moves to composite manufacture and 3D printing. You can probably deduce: standard functionality within Javelin alongside material certificates. Approved Suppliers Many OEM s particularly in Aerospace specify approved suppliers and materials, effectively creating a closed supply chain in an effort to uphold quality standards. Approved suppliers and full good inwards inspections regimes are all part of standard Javelin MRP functionality.
Production Scheduling and the shop floor In our starting document: EU Referendum & Production Planning, we stated that the decision process was complex with many variable factors to consider, and indeed as we have highlighted in this document there are many dimensions to consider when planning the shop floor. All the subjects we have discussed above combine in the Javelin Advanced Scheduling Engine and Graphical Planning Board to deliver a comprehensive easy to read and manipulate production planning tool. Combining all the influencing parameters as described above plus your own defined scheduling rules the Javelin Advanced Scheduling Engine delivers within minutes a graphical planning board which you can accept as is, manually manipulate or completely re-plan using easy view selection criteria plus drag and drop rescheduling. Real life considerations such as nesting or planning using identical materials at the same time can be considered. SFDC Shop Floor Data Capture is both the vehicle for delivering your plan to the team on the shop floor and also capturing feedback on completed production, time taken, scrap, operations finished, inspections. This creates a closed loop to update the scheduler with current work load requirements. No more waiting for time sheets, no more waiting for completed works orders. You get work in progress as is; Real Time.
Javelin MRP Functional Snapshot (Continued) Multi-level Estimating Release Certification (FAIRs, PPAPs etc) Quotations Material Traceability Sales Enquiries Customer Relationship Management (CRM) ENGINEERING Price Books Parts Master Records Multi-Currency Bills of Material (BOM) Scheduled Orders Drag & Drop BOM Builder Delivery Forecast Routings Acknowledgements Narratives Forecasts Part Issue Control Sales Order Processing Capacity Planning Quick Load Capability Alternative BOMs and Routes EDI Change Authorisation Approval - Structure Consignment Orders Tool Management Contract Control PURCHASING Area or length based parts Multi-Currency Document Management Progress Reports Supplier Analysis PRODUCTION Sub-Contract Control Works Orders Goods Recieved Notes (GRN) Shop Documentation Supplier Returns Shop Floor Data Capture Quality Analysis Time and Attendance Invoice Matching Capacity Planning Price Books Finite and Infinite Scheduling Purchase Order Authorisation Inventory Management Purchase Order Processing Batch and Serial Traceability Free Issues MRP Request for Quotation (RFQ) Quality Analysis Progress Review Graphical Planning Board Material Tracking DISTRIBUTION Trial Kitting Shortage Tracking Cutting Lists Delivery Notes Factory View Display Certificates of Conformity Supply Vs Demand Sub Contract Traceability MRP Action Plan (MAP) On Time In Full Reporting (OTIF) Customer Returns FINANCE Invoicing Link to 3rd Party Accounting Systems Multi Ship - to Addresses Stock Taking - Perpetual Inventory Stock Valuation QUALITY Work In Progress Valuation Reject/Scrap Analysis Cost of Sales Analysis Defect Rework Contract Costing
Our customers span a wide range of industrial sectors from Aerospace to Medical devices, Precision Engineers to Plastic Injection moulders. And they all have a common theme; they operate in ISO accredited industries, many achieving the top level of accreditation. Below are just a few companies that we have worked with: Aerospace: Accrofab Ltd Balform Ltd Ford Aerospace JJ Churchill Precision Engineering: Arrowsmith Enigineering (Coventry) Ltd DKW Engineering Ltd Atlantic Precision Engineering Newmont Engineering Co Ltd Plastics & Composites: Brick Kiln Composites Ltd Owen Greening & Mumford Formaplex Ltd Electronics: Aish Technologies Ltd Elite Electronics Kent Periscopes Fabricators: Birley Manufacturing Ltd Altron Communications Ltd Teversham Engineering Ltd About Javelin MRP: Javelin MRP is authored, developed, implemented and supported by Vero Software. Javelin (formerly known as Jobshop) has been installed in some 400 manufacturing enterprises across the UK, making it one of the most widely used manufacturing software solutions in the SME sector. Javelin Resources: To obtain further information about Javelin MRP: Visit: www.javelin-mrp.com Testimonials: www.javelin-mrp.com/news/casestudies Phone: +44 (0)116 272 5700 Address: 8 Warren Parkway Enderby Leicester LE19 4SA Email: javelin@verosoftware.com About Vero Software: Headquartered in England, Vero Software designs, develops, and supplies CAD/CAM/CAE software radically enhancing the efficiency of design and manufacturing processes, providing its customers with exceptional value through high productivity gains and significantly reducing time to market. Vero is part of Hexagon (Nordic exchange: HEXA B), a leading global provider of information technologies that drive quality and productivity across geospatial and industrial enterprise applications. For more information, please visit: www.verosoftware.com